The Malware Museum: An online archive of computer viruses of yore

Malware may be the scourge of the Internet era, but it could be useful to have a record of how it evolved — or perhaps you would simply like to reminisce about the good ol’ days of MS-DOS viruses. For this, there’s the Malware Museum.

Courtesy of online security guru Mikko Hypponen, the Malware Museum is an Internet Archive-hosted compendium of prominent malware programs from the 1980s and 1990s, mainly viruses. Once actioned, many viruses would display messages or animations to let you know your PC had been infected.

Malware has proliferated with the advent of the Web, and it continues to wreak havoc globally. But, as strange as it may sound, the Malware Museum offers a great little trip down memory lane as it looks back at some of the common malware messaging from the past three decades. Don’t worry, the archive uses simulations and has removed any of the “destructive routines” contained within the viruses. This is more about witnessing how malware once looked.

[via Hacker News]